


Thank you, Furudate-sensei!

by softsadcancer



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Haikyuu - Freeform, Haruichi Furudate - Freeform, Other, aaaaa i'm so emotional rn, furudate, furudate-sensei, hq, thank you furudate-sensei, thank you haikyuu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:07:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25385047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softsadcancer/pseuds/softsadcancer
Summary: “Goodbyes are always hard. And sometimes, it’s bittersweet, because you never know when the next hello is going to come.”
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	Thank you, Furudate-sensei!

**Author's Note:**

> So since the gender for Furudate-sensei isn't known, I've decided to use "they/them" pronouns when referring to Furudate-sensei!

Furudate sat at their desk, drawing up the final details on the last panel of their widely popular and successful manga, _Haikyuu!!_ They hummed a song as they finished up the shading, adding a few strokes here and there across the paper, trying to flesh out the emotions in their characters before setting their pen down. They let out a breath they didn’t realize they were holding, staring their last and final creation. They held the paper up to the light, a slow smile spreading across their face.

“Well then, boys,” Furudate said, putting the paper down. “I guess this is goodbye.”

They stood up and yawned, stretching their back. They weren’t sure how long they were sitting down, but it almost seemed like forever. They heard the _kerrack_ of their bones as they twisted and turned and jumped up and down, trying to move their body and get the blood flowing

“I need to move around more,” They said, covering their mouth to yawn once more. They moved to the kitchen, picking out a mug from the cabinet and setting it down on the table. “Maybe _I_ should start playing volleyball,” they chuckled to themselves as they filled the kettle with water to boil for their tea.

As they waited for the kettle to boil, Furudate walked back to their desk. It was near the sliding door that opened up to a small garden at the back of the house. They put it there so they could make use of the beautiful sunlight that shone through and illuminated their house. It was bright, so you’d get the occasional breeze, and sometimes the friendly neighbourhood calico cat would stroll in and keep Furudate company. To put it simply, it was their favourite spot in the whole house.

Furudate stood over their desk, staring at their papers once more. Their desk was a little bit of a mess, with papers placed around messily. They started gathering up the loose leaves of paper of the final chapter and stacked them up, gently placing it on top of the large yellow envelope, ready to be delivered and published. They cleaned up all the eraser dust that was scattered across their desk, placing their pencils and pens back in their owl pencil holder. The small plant that they had by the foot of the desk was placed on top instead, a little pop of colours amongst the white and blacks of the paper and pens. It was the first time in a long time that their desk was cleaned. And seeing it clean just reminded them that this was it.

 _Haikyuu!!_ was now over.

Furudate walked back to the kettle, pouring the hot water over their tea-bag in their mug and walked outside to their small back garden. It was a cool crisp day. The sky was still a beautiful light shade of blue, wispy white clouds painting the sky. The wall surrounding their garden was low enough for them to see heads bopping up and down, people making their way to wherever it was they had to be. How nice that the world was still spinning and everyone was alive, doing their own thing. Furudate sighed and smiled, holding their mug of tea to their lips as they took a small sip.

“Furudate-sensei!”

Furudate turned around to the sound of feet padding into their house. A young boy stood in Furudate’s kitchen, a volleyball in his arms as he panted. He had beads of sweat dripping down his face as he wiped them with the back of his hand, a wide smile on his face. He ran a hand through his vibrant orange hair, his hair sticking up with all the sweat.

“Oh, hello!” Furudate said, walking back inside. They placed the mug on their desk and smiled. “What are you doing here?”

“Just wanted to drop by and say hi,” he said, placing the ball on the floor to wash his hands. “And also maybe get some water. Kinda parched and I forgot my bottle. Then I remembered you lived nearby, and decided to swing by, get some water and see you!”

Furudate smiled as they leaned against their desk. “Please help yourself, then!”

“Sure!” The boy beamed.

Furudate picked up their mug as they watched their guest reach for a glass on the top cabinet and fill his glass with tap water. Furudate smiled behind their mug, memories of when he was a young scruffy boy with unruly orange hair, with bright wide eyes and endless energy. Now, stood before then was tall boy, muscles sculpted nicely to compliment his body. His hair was kept short, but still messy as before. His eyes were still wide and bright, but also careful and calculating, aware of his surroundings.

_Ahh, how you’ve grown these last eight years._

“So are you almost done?” The boy asked as he walked closer to Furudate, pulling them out of their thoughts.

“I actually just finished,” Furudate said proudly, gesturing at the small pile of papers on their desk. “Might need to go through it again, check for small minor details here and there. You know, a final check.”

The boy nodded, walking closer to Furudate’s. He placed his glass of water down and picked up the small stack of papers, leafing through them.

“But more or less,” Furudate continued, taking a sip of his tea. “I’m done.”

Furudate watched the boy’s expressions as he read the papers in his hand. They could see his eyes sparkle, mouth open wide. A gasp. A short laugh. A sigh. A smile. Furudate smiled wider.

_He likes it._

“So,” the boy arranged the papers neatly on the desk and handed them to Furudate. “That’s it, then, huh?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

The boy smiled as Furudate took the papers, placing it neatly on the envelope again. “It’s almost surreal,” he said, standing by the sliding door with his glass of water. “I know you started this eight years ago, but it seems like almost yesterday you started on this story.”

“Well, it seems like only yesterday you were _this_ high,” Furudate teased, walking closer to their younger friend, ruffling his sweaty hair.

“Hey,” the boy retorted, grinning. “I wasn’t that short!”

“You’re right, you were shorter.”

“You know, you’re starting to sound a lot like –”

“Pardon the intrusion!”

Furudate and their friend turned to see another taller young boy, with soft raven hair, walk in.

“Hello, Furudate-sensei,” the new guest said politely, bowing down. “Excuse my entrance.”

_Look at you, all grown up._

Furudate waved their hand. “Don’t worry about it, it’s actually so nice to see you.”

“Likewise,” the raven haired boy replied, a small smile on his face. He turned to his orange haired friend, hands on his hip. “Oi, I thought you said it would be a quick minute.”

“I was just about to leave,” the other replied, downing his glass of water. “By the way, Furudate-sensei finished the story!”

The raven haired boy’s eyes went wide. “Really?”

Furudate nodded. “Would you like to see?”

“I would love to, if you don’t mind.”

The three walked back to Furudate’s desk as they handed their new guest the papers of their final chapter. They watched their face, expressions similar that their orange-haired friend wore while reading. Furudate’s heart warmed. It was also a great feeling when someone read your work and the expression on their faces are exactly what you would’ve wanted to see. It meant you did a good job in getting across to the readers.

“Wow,” he said, handing back the papers to Furudate. “You’re – you’re actually done.”

“Who would’ve thought, huh?” Furudate replied with a smile, holding the sheets close to their chest.

“How do you feel?”

“It’s a bittersweet feeling, you know?” Furudate said, placing the papers back on his desk. “Like I’m so happy I’m finally done, but it’s also sad because I thoroughly enjoyed writing this story.”

The two boy looked at each other and smiled. “We get it,” the orange-haired boy said, a sad smile on his face. “Goodbye are inevitable.”

His raven-haired friend nodded in agreement. “So, what’s the plan now, then? What’s going to happen next?”

Furudate scratched their chin. “Oh, I’m not sure, actually,” they finally said. “Maybe I’ll take a short break before I start my new project.”

“New project?” the two boys said in unison.

“Yeah, you want to see?” Furudate said, as they opened the drawer of their desk. In it was another envelope, labelled _Future Project_. The two boys crowded over the envelope, their mouths O-shaped as their eyes sparkled in amazement at this new project.

“What’s it about?” The orange-haired boy said softly, afraid of letting the word of this new project spread outside Furudate-sensei’s house; he, more than anyone else, know how hard Furudate-sensei worked on their projects, and they’d hate for it to be leaked out.

Furudate looked around, wary eyes scanning their surroundings. “Well,” they whispered. “It’s about –”

“Yahoo~”

The three looked to the doorway to see another young boy, a brunette with luscious locks, swept on either side of his face. “Pardon the intrusion, Furudate-sensei,” he said, hands on his hips, eyes locked on the two boys before him. “But we’ve been waiting for these two knuckleheads to get back so we can finish our game.”

Furudate laughed. _That’s so like him_.

“Don’t worry about it,” Furudate said, smiling. “It’s nice to see you again. Hope you –”

“Hey hey hey!”

A silver-haired boy bounced in, his golden eyes shining and a big smile on his face, followed by another curly black-haired boy, his. “Pardon the intrusion,” he said politely, bowing.

“Come on, guys!” The silver-hair boy said, his golden eyes shining. “What’s taking so long?”

“Sorry, we got caught up,” The raven-haired boy apologized. “But,” He looked to Furudate, his eyes wide with excitement, though his face said otherwise. He turned back to the silver-haired boy. “Furudate-sensei finished it.”

The three boys at the doorway cocked their heads. “Huh?”

“The manga!” The orange-haired boy exclaimed, jumping in the air.

The three at the doorway gasped, followed by a couple of other gasps from the hallway.

“Are there more of you here?” Furudate laughed, hands on their hips. “Come on out, boys!”

Slowly, the rest of the boys who were hiding in the hallway – probably bored of waiting on the others outside – crept into the room with everyone else. “Pardon the intrusion,” they said, or at least, that’s what Furudate heard them say; it wasn’t in unison as they all said it at their own time, some loud, others soft. A diverse bunch, they were.

“Have you actually finished it?” they asked, eyes wide.

Furudate laughed as they all crowded them. “I sure have!”

“Wow,” The brunette said breathlessly. “Eight years, and you’re done.”

Furudate nodded. “Where did the time go, huh?”

“How do you feel, Furudate-sensei?” The very tall brunette with stern eyes said, his hands behind his back. He had grown taller since Furudate had last seen him. Despite his bulky frame and somewhat menacing look, he was still as polite as ever

“Well, I was just telling these two earlier how bittersweet I feel,” Furudate responded, looking up at the ceiling.

“Wait, so, you’re _done_ done?!” The silver-haired boy cried, his eyes wide and sad. “So that’s it, no more?”

“What’s gonna happen after?” The white-haired boy asked, his big eyes going bigger; he was just as shocked. Furudate smiled, the sight of him reminding him of those seagull at the beaches in Brazil “Will you write spin-offs?”

“Will you write one-shots?” The blond asked, playfully sticking his tongue out. "Maybe about how I became the world's best setter?"

That earned him a soft hit to his head by the quiet boy with the two moles above his eye.

“I think the best setter is me,” The one with the brown luscious locks said as he ran a hand through his hair and flashed a peace sign.

"Will you maybe continue it later?" The loud red-headed boy exclaimed, his eyes big and bright as he jumped up with excitement.

Furudate took a deep breath, trying to hear out their flurry of questions, mentally making note of them as they tried to answer each and every one of their concerns. Just as they were about to reply, one of the boys, whose hair was tied up in a loose bun, the tips of his hair blond – the one standing behind the rambunctious black-haired bed-head – spoke up.

“What will happen to us?”

Everyone in the room stopped talking as they all turned to face him. He blushed, aware of everyone’s eyes on him. “What?”

Furudate smiled warmly at everyone before him. Eight whole years. Look at them all. They watched them all grow from when they were young kids, either playing volleyball for fun, or maybe starting out volleyball as a sport. Then came high school, when things got more exciting amongst them, as they played against and learnt from each other.

Now, they’re all grown. Some of them are now playing volleyball professionally, others now have jobs – and a large variety amongst them, at that – but at the end of the day, they’re just a group of boys who loved playing volleyball. And Furudate was proud of each and every single one of them.

Of course they would be. After all, they were _their_ boys.

“I mean,” the young boy continued, “Now that the manga is over, now that it’s finished, what’s going to happen? Will we be forgotten? Will we cease to exist? What’s going to happen?”

“Of course not!” Furudate said, shaking their head. They turned and walked out into the garden, gesturing at the rest to follow. The boys looked at one another, but followed nonetheless.

“Of course you won’t cease to exist,” Furudate continued, as they stood in their garden. A soft breeze blew past them, and the sky above was slowly turned to a light shade of orange, the wispy clouds above catching it’s colour.

“You will forever live on in the hearts of our readers!” Furudate beamed.

“The readers?” The boys responded, confused.

“Of course!” Furudate had their hands on their hips. “I don’t think you boys realize, but you have made such an impact on our readers.”

“Have we?” The orange-haired boy said, beaming.

“Yes, you have,” Furudate smiled. “You _all_ have. And I don’t think people forget those who’ve made such an impact on their lives, trust me.”

Furudate turned, their back facing the boys. They looked over their garden wall, heads of people still bopping up and down. “You may not have an ending here, with me, but you will forever live on forever in the hearts, minds, writings, and artwork of our readers. And maybe,” Furudate turned to face the boys, their eyes welled with tears. “Maybe that was a choice on my part, for me to end it the way I did. So you all can live on forever, and continue bring more joy and comfort to everyone around the world.”

The boys before him also had tears in their eyes, some allowing them to fall freely from their eyes, others hastily wiping them away. Furudate laughed as they wiped their own tears. “Ahh, look at me, getting all emotional! Sure, ending it was sad, but goodbyes _are_ inevitable, and I – ”

“Furudate-sensei!”

Furudate stopped talking as the boys before him, smiles on their faces as they wiped the tears from their eyes. Their voices were shaky as they looked at one another, nodding in some sort of secret agreement that Furudate wasn’t a part of. They looked back at Furudate once more, and bowed.

“Thank you, Furudate-sensei, for the last eight years!”

Furudate watched as they all remained bowed, tears now falling onto the grass as the boys gripped their fists tightly, a few sobs escaping their mouths. Furudate allowed the tears from their face to fall freely.

“Of course,” Furudate replied, laughing as they cried, their eyes closing shut. “It was my pleasure!”

When Furudate opened their eyes, the garden was empty. They sighed, wiping off the remaining tears that clung to their face. They looked up at the sky, watching as the blue disappeared and a deep orange took over. It reminded Furudate of a certain tangerine they were sure to miss.

"Goodbye, boys. Thank _you_ for the last eight years."

Hands in their pocket, Furudate walked back inside their house. They looked around, unsure of what to do; the manga was finished, albeit the last look-through which could be done later tonight with a nice bowl katsudon. Deciding they were done for today, they took one last look around and headed for the front door, taking their keys with them.

It was a beautiful day for an evening stroll.

Furudate walked out their front door and took in a deep breath. There was something about the air around them that just felt different, almost newer, fresher. They took another deep breath in and sighed.

“Miaow!”

Furudate looked down at their feet to see the neighbourhood calico cat, looking up at them with his big brown golden eyes. They crouched down and stroked the cat, who began to rub himself on their legs, purring in contentment. Furudate smiled fondly. “Hey,” they said, scratching the cat behind his ears. “You know that project I’ve been working on for about eight years?”

The cat looked up, almost as though he was responding.

“Well,” Furudate continued. “Today I finished the final chapter. Isn’t that amazing?”

The cat meowed in response, rubbing himself against Furudate’s legs once more before trotting off. Furudate remained crouched, hugging their knees as they watched the walk away and turn around the corner, disappearing from their sight.

“Goodbyes are always hard,” Furudate said to no one as they stood up, dusting the fur off their legs. “And sometimes, it’s bittersweet, because you never know when the next hello is going to come.”

Furudate walked along the path, nodding at some of their neighbours that walked by. “But,” they continued. “Goodbyes never mean it’s the end.”

Furudate smiled, hands in their pockets. They hummed as they walked down the path, thinking about the last eight years of their life, and wondering what the next eight years of their life was going to look like.

_“Tobe fly, high, ase to chi to namida de…”_

_That’s right. Goodbyes don’t mean the end. Sometimes, it means ‘See ya later!’_

**Author's Note:**

> and so, Haikyuu has now come to an end!!! ARGH THIS IS CRAZY!!!  
> like i knew it was going to end eventually, but i don't think i had emotionally or mentally prepared myself for this day :(  
> hence, i decided to write it out!!!  
> i hope this helps you cope a little better with the ending of haikyuu, but remember!! furudate's last message to us was 'see ya!' so who knows? :D  
> hope you guys are doing okay (emotionally, mentally and physically!!!)  
> BUT HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY/NIGHT!!! <3


End file.
